Roof racks and weight and stuff

Couldn't find what i was looking for in a search so:

What would be concidered an acceptable weight for a roof rack before it starts to affect the centre of gravity and weight distribution to the point where it is no longer safe to do any decent high siding or climbing?

The vehicle is a Defender 90; 85 profile tyres; somedays it looks like it's been raised, somedays it doesn't so worst case is a 2 inch lift; rack may have a moderate weight on it sometimes;

I have a friend who is quite clued up in this area (his brother in law has done a few expeditions) but it's always good to get as many opinions as possible!

Hit me with it!

The thing is, regardless of lift you want the centre of gravity as low as you can get. Which means putting as little as possible up there, espescialy if your doing anything drastic. Anyhow all that dunt matter 'cos I'm sure I've read that the maximum load for the roof rack isn't much more than the weight of the spare wheel anyhow.

Well them wheels are quite heavy!!

When we're away on mainland trips it will have a couple of bikes and general 'crap' on it. I guess the key is to either carry stuff or do the serious off roading, not both. Although the Camel Trophy ones got on ok!

According to Mr Haynes the max roof load for a 90/110 is 75kg including the roof rack. If you've got a full steel rack that doesn't leave a lot for anything you might want to put up there

I think that's for the roof panels, rather than the gutter/sides, which is where the rack mounts, and also roll cages effectively.

Dan_Trials said:

I think that's for the roof panels, rather than the gutter/sides, which is where the rack mounts, and also roll cages effectively.

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Maybe. I've got some thule roof bars which also state max load 75kg but don't say whether that includes themselves or not. I reckom if it feels like you're going to tip over when you go round a corner you've got too much on. Unless you're in a disco which feels like that anyway

The excellent book Sahara Overland, by Chris Scott has some good advice on roofracks. In short, the weight of a HD rack alone can be enough to tip a landy on a sideslope in sand.

I have a HD rack and it weighs 78kg. plus ladder.

If you must have a rack, pack very heavy stuff as low as poss in the landy to counteract the rack.

Buy the book for photos of rack-induced rolls and a host of excellent expedition advice. I don't even go to Tescos without it!

Mary Gowround

Gotta say the ride on my 110 was affected pretty heavily just by sticking on OME springs; ie. more role in corners. That said when we were overlanding we had what Chris Scott (and everyone else) would consider too much stuff on the roof rack (roof tent, 2 seats, canvas awnings, 2 jerry cans, ammo case with (light) spare parts in it). Also had the hi-lift and shovel attached to the side of the roof rack. Too much stuff maybe, but never had any problems as had plenty of added weight low down as well. Wasn't trying to cross the Sahara at the speed of the Paris-Dakar though...

Answer's gotta be the least amount possible though, but if you're adding a fair amount lower down your Landy'll take a fair amount up top.

had a 110 into frogs island, i think it was the namaste one, too much weight on it and had pulled some of the roof off :O

My last 90, I got carried away at IKEA and overloaded* my HD brownchurch rack somewhat and going over cobbles the gutters uncurled and the doors wouldn't open.. had to remove the dog guard and climb out the back door.

*An entire flat pack kitchen, worktops and fitted wardrobes.

We run double shocks and stab bars on all our rear axles and it makes a big difference to the handling of the vehicle, our vehicles are quite heavy though (150" wheelbase) so maybe double shocks on a 90 will beat the crap out of you.

As I understand it the issue is with the weight bearing capability of the gutters - they're crap. Just think about the stresses you are transmitting through that **** skinny mild steel when travelling cross country. If you need to put a lot of weight up there then you really need to mount your rack to the chassis and the only realistic way to do this in a landy is by fitting an external roll cage. This has the added advantage in that when you overload your rack and roll on a side slope you only mash a few cans and a tent not your head.

just want to bring this one back to the front as ive just fitted a roof tent whats your views on that then?! im running 2 HD bars under the tent on the gutters. bars weigh around 15kg, tent weighs around 45kg. loadsof people use rooftents so i dont understand the stated low numbers.

G

Most overload their roofracks horribly, but if you keep your rack mountings tight and keep an eye on the gutters and front of the roof then it should be ok.
A few centimeters behind the windscreen they tend to crack out one of the spot welds, can be fixed by just drilling it out and putting a rivet in and sealing.

Also make sure that all you upper body bolts are tight to avoid movement which will lead to cracks.

I've got two Rhino HD bars on my 110 and regularly carry that sort of weight (45-50kg)offroad. now looking along the gutters it's obvious to see some deformation and the sealant is cracked at the same places - it's all down to point loading. Might be an idea to put some steel angle in your gutter too to spread the weight - the existing gutters are not steel but aluminium by the way. Stupid bloody design to be honest!

If you are going to use a roof rack, make sure that it has long plate load spreaders on the legs , otherwise you find that rough or corrugated roads will bend the gutters down at the bottom of the support legs, making it difficult to open the doors